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满城风雨 (man3 cheng2 feng1 yu3) - Tempest in a line
March 8, 2009, Sunday
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WHEN people in a town are all talking about the same thing, it will be like a rainstorm wreaking havoc through the whole place. Derived from such an analogy, this popular Chinese saying is used figuratively to mean a hot topic being on everyone's lips in a specific place.
However, the saying was originally borrowed from a line of verse written by highly gifted poet, Pan Dalin, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Despite his great talent, Pan had neither fame nor wealth and lived in poverty throughout his life.
One day, Pan's wife asked him: "What's the use of you writing poems day and night? You are not selling them and we can't turn them into food or clothes."
Pan answered: "You know in ancient times there were famous poets who refused to sell their poems for a bushel of grain. So why should you push me to sell my poems for food and clothes?"
It was late September. Outside Pan's window, chilly winds and rain were stripping the trees of their withered leaves. Looking at the dismal scene, the poet got a fleeting inspiration and quickly wrote down a line of verse: "As the Double Ninth Festival (ninth day of the ninth lunar month) approaches, winds and rain are sweeping across the town."
Just then, someone knocked at the door. Pan's wife answered and came back to tell her husband that several bailiffs had come to collect rent and taxes. Pan had to come out to talk to the visitors and ask for further postponement of the payment.
When he sat down again at his dilapidated desk, the poet could not continue writing the poem any more. Words such as "rent," "tax," "food" and "clothes" kept swirling in his mind.
That night, a good friend came to visit Pan and asked him for a new poem. Pan gave him the only line he had written that day.
People who read this line all liked it very much and soon it became a widely quoted rhyme for describing autumn scenes.
Later, part of the line, man3 cheng2 feng1 yu3, was turned into a popular idiom for describing a place being flooded by talk of a specific topic.
However, the saying was originally borrowed from a line of verse written by highly gifted poet, Pan Dalin, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Despite his great talent, Pan had neither fame nor wealth and lived in poverty throughout his life.
One day, Pan's wife asked him: "What's the use of you writing poems day and night? You are not selling them and we can't turn them into food or clothes."
Pan answered: "You know in ancient times there were famous poets who refused to sell their poems for a bushel of grain. So why should you push me to sell my poems for food and clothes?"
It was late September. Outside Pan's window, chilly winds and rain were stripping the trees of their withered leaves. Looking at the dismal scene, the poet got a fleeting inspiration and quickly wrote down a line of verse: "As the Double Ninth Festival (ninth day of the ninth lunar month) approaches, winds and rain are sweeping across the town."
Just then, someone knocked at the door. Pan's wife answered and came back to tell her husband that several bailiffs had come to collect rent and taxes. Pan had to come out to talk to the visitors and ask for further postponement of the payment.
When he sat down again at his dilapidated desk, the poet could not continue writing the poem any more. Words such as "rent," "tax," "food" and "clothes" kept swirling in his mind.
That night, a good friend came to visit Pan and asked him for a new poem. Pan gave him the only line he had written that day.
People who read this line all liked it very much and soon it became a widely quoted rhyme for describing autumn scenes.
Later, part of the line, man3 cheng2 feng1 yu3, was turned into a popular idiom for describing a place being flooded by talk of a specific topic.
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